Government Relents To Allow Wales to Benefit From World Cup - but must still apply

The Home Office has altered its stance to allow Welsh pubs to open later to screen England’s World Cup matches. Initially The Government had refused to extend the blanket policy which applied in England. This always seemed to us an odd policy. The Government has now relented and confirmed that pubs in Wales can extend their licences by four hours, to a maximum of 1am. The changes take the form of scrapping the fees for Temporary Event Notices and producing a bespoke form designed to speed up the process.

So there is still a difference between England and Wales but the change of policy must be a welcome one even if it is late in the day. The indication is also that the last date to take advantage (presumably for the first match) is 6th June, this would tie in with the deadline for late TEN’S.

Those premises that have already paid the council fee for a Temporary Event Notice will get a refund, presumably as long as it is in line with the hours referred to above.

The form can be found here. (link)

Needless to say Scotland has not followed suit!